Lagar de Sabariz

Lagar de Sabariz's vineyards are located at 400 m altitude, 300 m from the Miño river, close to a once-Celtic village called Lansbricae dating from the second century BC. Remants of old amphorae have been discovered in the area; this is ancient viticultural land.

The vineyards are sheltered from the cold winters by a circle of mountains. Summers are warm and dry. The shallow top soil sits on hard mother rock composed of granite and quartz. This particular type of granite is unusual in the area and yields high-acid wines.

Owner Pilar Higuero has found that biodynamic farming yields the best fruit and thus the best wine. No herbicides or pesticides are used; biodynamic infusions are used instead. The soils are poor but very much alive, and the yields are low. A lover of biodiversity, Pilar grows lavender, mint, rosemary, plums, peaches and roses around the vineyards.

The grapes are hand-harvested on fruit days -- only in the morning so that the fruit arrives cool in the cellar.

About her winemaking philosophy, Pilar writes, "In the winery we are mere observers of a natural process, letting nature express itself."